Technology

This three-step hack helps students prepare cheap, healthy meals

Published

14 hours ago

August 31, 2024

Images of spice, Tupperware containers and an air fryer

If you don’t live at home, you have more than enough to do with the combination of studying and socializing. But you will still have to find time to cook and eat.

As a student, you can easily follow a diet that’s 90% toast or ramen, or succumb to the dubious pleasures of fast food – which isn’t good for your budget or your health.

But with a very small amount of effort and investment, you can eat well. Here are our top tips.

Stock up on herbs and seasonings

What makes other people’s cuisine taste so good? The answer is spices and seasonings. Whether you’re cooking meat, vegetables, fish, rice, pasta or stews, adding a little sprinkle while cooking makes all the difference.

You can buy a few herbs or seasonings for £10/$10 and it will transform virtually any cheap-to-make dish, from pasta to roast potatoes, to stews and chilli.

Besides the basics (salt and pepper), here are some essentials to try:

Smoked Paprika (UK: Morrisons, £1.15 / US: Whole Foods, $2.49)
Garlic Granules (UK: Schwartz, £2.15 / US: Whole Foods, $2.51))
Chilli Powder (UK: Morrisons, £1.15 / US: Amazon $0.99)
Cumin (UK: Schwartz £1.90 / US: McCormick, $2.69)
Basil (UK: Morrisons: £4.48 / US: Amazon, $1.99)
Oregano (UK: Morrisons: £1.15/US: Amazon, $1.29)

Batch cook

Cooking in large batches is faster and cheaper than starting over every time you’re hungry. For every time you cook, you can eat multiple times. And it means you always have something to heat up when it’s late and you’re tempted to stop for something deep-fried and served in a paper bag.

All you need are a few Tupperware containers to store food in – and these are cheap to buy. You can get a set of 3 leak-proof BPA-free containers from Amazon Basics for £8.76, or, in the US, a set of 10 for $12.99.

Invest in an air fryer or multi-cooker

A shared kitchen can mean fighting for time on the stovetop. It also probably means removing the burnt crust before you do that. But if you bring your own stove, you will have much more freedom to cook and eat whenever you want.

There are several options you can choose depending on the type of food you cook most often.

Air fryer

An air fryer gives you a range of cooking options: you can roast meat and vegetables, reheat leftovers and prepare frozen food. You can even make a cheese sandwich in one. However, it is best used for dry food: it is not the best place to cook a stew, for example.

If your meals usually consist of chicken or fish and vegetables, an air fryer is a good buy.

We have many tried-and-tested purchasing options in our review of the best air fryers, but for students we recommend investing in a Cosori single-tray air fryer.

Cosori is not as well known as Ninja, but the air fryers are robust and well priced. We tested and reviewed the mid-sized Cosori TurboBlaze, which has a generous 6QT/6L without being too absurdly large to carry around.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

If you want something smaller and even more budget-friendly, Cosori has a range of air fryers on its Amazon store in the UK and US. As there is currently a sale on, prices start from £49.99 / $49.99.

Another option is the even more compact Xiaomi Mi smart air fryer, which has the added benefit of being connected, so you can control it via an app on your phone, access recipes and receive notifications.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Multicooker

A more versatile option than an air fryer is a multicooker, which gives you a range of cooking options.

One of the best value options we tested is the Drew & Cole CleverChef, which you can currently buy from Amazon for under £45. Unfortunately, it’s not available in the US.

For detailed information you can read our review, but the CleverChef has 14 cooking programs and you can use it to bake, roast, steam, poach, cook rice and pasta and more. It even has a carrying handle, making it easy to transport.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

A more expensive option is the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, which we also reviewed and rate highly. This allows you to air fry And make wet foods such as stews. It can pressure cook, slow cook, sauté, as well as grill, roast, bake and rise.

Jim Martin / Foundry

For more air fryer and countertop stove recommendations, browse our reviews of the best air fryers, the best Ninja air fryers and cookers, the best dual tray air fryers, and the best air fryer ovens.